Cancer survival rates reach record high, but deadliest types still put Americans at risk

Decades of cancer research have led to more effective treatment of the disease, so that cancer is "becoming less of a death sentence and more of a treatable chronic disease," the 75th annual Cancer Statistics Report stated.

The five-year cancer survival rate is now 70% in the U.S., compared to 50% in the mid-1970s.

"For example, survival has improved for some types of leukemia because of the development of tyrosine kinase inhibitors, which allow most patients to have a near-normal life expectancy," the researchers said in a press release.

"Survival has improved for people with regional-stage disease (when tumors have spread from where they started to nearby organs) and distant-stage disease (where tumors have spread to organs further away from the starting point)," the organization added.

"In fact, for all distant-stage cancers combined, the relative survival rate doubled from 17% in the mid-1990s to 35% for those diagnosed from 2015 to 2021."

"Many factors contribute to these improved outcomes, and one of the most significant is the use of personalized, clinically validated approaches that leverage predictive insights to guide therapy," he went on.

"These previously inaccessible insights now help clinicians identify which specific treatments are most likely to benefit each patient, and which may offer little advantage."

Dr. Yvonne Estrin, a breast radiologist at Pembroke Pink, also weighed in on these findings, agreeing that treatment advances "play a major role in this progress."

Despite the uptick in life expectancy, the ACS noted that there will still be an estimated 2.1 million new cancer cases in 2026, or about 5,800 diagnoses every day.

Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, said there are "many important reasons" for the survival improvements.

"There is more awareness of cancer risks and symptoms, and much better screening," he told Fox News Digital. "Earlier diagnosis is leading to earlier treatments."

"Lifestyle changes can also help combat the effects of cancer and treatments, as well as better follow-up in terms of scans and interventions," Siegel added.

However, death rates are mostly declining. Since its peak in 1991, the cancer death rate has declined by 34%, the ACS reported, with about 4.8 million cancer deaths prevented as of 2023.

In men, the death rate for prostate cancer has decreased 53% since 1993 and colorectal cancer rates dipped 55% between 1980 and 2023. 

In women, breast cancer death rates dropped 44% between 1989 and 2023.